The Colonial Bastille - A History of Imprisonment in Vietnam, 1862-1940 (2001)

Annotation. Peter Zinoman's original and insightful study focuses on the colonial prison system in French Indochina and its role in fostering modern political consciousness among the Vietnamese. Using prison memoirs, newspaper articles, and extensive archival records, Zinoman presents a wealth of significant new information to document how colonial prisons, rather than quelling political dissent and maintaining order, instead became institutions that promoted nationalism and revolutionary education "Peter Zinoman's study focuses on the colonial prison system in French Indochina and its role in fostering modern political consciousness among the Vietnamese. Using prison memoirs, newspaper articles, and extensive archival records, Zinoman presents a wealth of significant new information to document how colonial prisons, rather than quelling political dissent and maintaining order, instead became institutions that promoted nationalism and revolutionary education.". "Zinoman includes case studies of large prison rebellions to highlight the colonial prison's capacity to generate solidarity among criminals, political prisoners, and native guards. He also demonstrates how media coverage of prisons contributed to the development of Vietnamese nationalism. Finally, he analyzes how the post-colonial communist state promoted its founders' heroic "prison memoirs" to serve specific political objectives. Offering valuable insight into methods of disciplinary power and their possible consequences, The Colonial Bastille will appeal not only to readers in Asian studies but also to those interested in colonialism, comparative revolutions, and penology."--BOOK JACKET. Preliminaries......Page 1 Contents......Page 9 List of Maps and Tables......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 17 Abbreviations......Page 21 Introduction......Page 23 1. the origins of the ill-disciplined prison......Page 35 2. the system......Page 60 3. the regime......Page 94 4. prisoners and prison society......Page 120 5. colonial prisons in revolt, 1862–1930......Page 158 6. the thai nguyen rebellion......Page 180 7. prison cells and party cells......Page 222 8. prisons and the colonial press, 1934–1939......Page 262 9. the prisoner released......Page 289 Epilogue......Page 319 Glossary......Page 325 Select Bibliography......Page 333 Index......Page 353

"Zinoman makes original contributions on multiple fronts, including colonial systems; prisons as social institutions; political life in prison; public campaigns concerning prisons; and released prisoners in action. He also takes us beyond the colonial/anticolonial, nationalist/communist, and war/peace dichotomies that have long dominated Vietnam studies."—David Marr, author of Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, 1920-1945

"This is a wonderful, lucidly argued, and meticulously documented book."—Ann Stoler, author of Race and the Education of Desire: Foucault's History of Sexuality and the Colonial Order of Things

A study that focuses on the colonial prison system in French Indochina and its role in fostering modern political consciousness among the Vietnamese. It presents significant information to document how colonial prisons, rather than quelling political dissent and maintaining order. Most of our prisons in Indochina include only one room, in which all detainees, both the accused and the convicted, are held together indiscriminately.